Chat Transcript - Gary Housteau

Bucknuts.com Staff

03/25/2004

We have a transcript of today's chat with Gary Housteau now posted. Topics included recruiting and the state's top senior-to-be prospects as well as a look at some of the issues to be addressed in spring football.

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 1:03:10 PM)
Hi everyone, today's password from Kirk says it all...springball. Sprinkle in some recruiting and we can have a nice chat this afternoon.

slimkid (Mar 25, 2004 1:04:07 PM)
I guess I will step up to the plate with a question or 2 . . .

slimkid (Mar 25, 2004 1:04:36 PM)
What will be the most hotly contested position battles during spring ball?

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 1:07:37 PM)
HI slimkid... I can't get beyond the quarterback position. Two elite 11 QB's will battle it out toe to toe this spring. What an exciting thing it should be to watch. The spring game should be an awesome thing this year. I'm anxious to see the linebacking spot in the middle be contested and the few spots on the offensive line should be hotly contested as well. Those are the most exciting battles I can't wait to see this spring.

slimkid (Mar 25, 2004 1:09:10 PM)
Which players are dealing with injuries that might keep them from fully participating in all the workouts?

slimkid (Mar 25, 2004 1:09:23 PM)
and the spring game?

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 1:12:11 PM)
Right away Mike D'Andrea comes to mind. I'm not certain at all with the extent of his
rehabilitation status from his shoulder injury but I would guess he would be very limited this spring if he participates at all. It's unfortunate because he can really fall behind
Schlegel and John Kerr this spring. I'm a big John Kerr fan by the way. But I'm also a really big D'Andrea fan as well. If
Schlegel beats them both out then he's really a good one. Can't wait to watch that unfold.

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 1:16:40 PM)
Hi redondo...thanks for chatting with us...with the last name Tressel that is a door opener any way. But when you look at his 23 years at Hamline University in Minnesota, I have to believe he has some really solid connections in the heartland of America and that could bode well for the oos recruiting effort. Overall I think his hiring is a positive for recruiting and a positive as a staff member. The work ethic comes with the name!

russiabuck (Mar 25, 2004 1:16:43 PM)
Has Hartline been offered, if and when he does do you think he'll be a buckeye?

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 1:22:27 PM)
Hi russiabuck...Hartline is a young man I hope to meet either tomorrow or early next week. I don't know if he has been offered or not but Duane seems to think highly of Hartline so that has gotten me interested in him as well. I would tend to believe that if an offer is extended to him it would only be a matter of time until he would become a Buckeye. Right now you have to look at Hartline, Orton and Robiskie as being three of the top receivers in the state and I've only met Orton in person at this point. I'm a big Manningham fan btw and now it pains me to admit that, but I would like to see Hartline and Robiskie in person before I assess the trio. I do like what I've seen with Orton. But yeah, Hartline would be a Buckeye if he's offered, it would only be a matter of time I'm certain before he would accept.

Susan (Mar 25, 2004 1:22:33 PM)
Hi Gary and Kirk. Any indications as to which recruits will be attending OSU's Nike Camp?

Kirk (Mar 25, 2004 1:26:41 PM)
Off the top of my head I'm not sure about a big list... I imagine the Glenville kids will be there since if there's a camp at OSU, they're there, and Brandon Harrison will be there too (we have an update coming on him in about an hour). He'll probably put up one of the fastest 40s at the camp.

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 1:27:40 PM)
Hi Susan...glad to see you're one of the six on board thus far...smile. I'm sure there are a host of young men that will invade the Nike camp and at this point probably too numerous to mention. I do know that Shawn Glaser just told me that he will be at the Nike camp and he's a very intriguing prospect. He's a legitimate 6-8, 320 and he's enormous and he loves the Buckeyes...my kind of guy. I'm certain that if track doesn't restrict any of the top prospects then they will be there. It should be a great day when you consider that OSU has a team scrimmage that day. Maybe Kirk and the guys can formulate a complete list.

slimkid (Mar 25, 2004 1:27:59 PM)
Will the coaches use the spring game as a forum for experimenting with new offensive strategies? Or, will it be used solely to evaluate player performance? Basically, I want to know if we can watch the spring game and be able to discern whether or not Tressel will open up the passing game this fall.

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 1:32:36 PM)
To answer your basic question...no the spring game will not be a litmus test to see if JT will open up his offense or not this season. I think it's going to be a nuts and bolts type of spring on offense because it will be all about finding an identity more than building an offensive repertoire. And even if JT should get crazy and go off the deep end this spring...he'll come right back down to reality for the fall I'm sure. We need to find an offensive line and a quarterback before we can even think of opening things up in the fall.

russiabuck (Mar 25, 2004 1:32:42 PM)
With Tedd Ginn coming in as a freshmen DB, is he every bit as good as Reecie was coming in as an RB.

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 1:38:33 PM)
Reecie was probably my favorite high school football player ever and I boldly predicted his immediate and overwhelming success when I was at Buckeye Sports Bulletin. I also like Louis Irizarry a whole lot in high school and I predicted that it would take him a few years before he would have a major impact. Ted Ginn was so close to surpassing Reecie in my eyes, I saw Glenville play four times in person and he was just fantastic. I think Ginn will impact special teams the fastest...it's a no brainer. We will see days of him returning kicks that will mirror his effort in the Army All-Star game. He will have numerous kicks returned for scores in his career. It may take a while for him to come to the top as a defensive back but his abilities are so obvious that it may be another Chris Gamble situation where he comes in situationally at first and becomes so dominate that he has to be on the field. Number 7 will log some quality minutes as a defensive back this year, no doubt. Love the kid. Stud and a half.

BuckeyeDave (Mar 25, 2004 1:39:05 PM)
What are your thoughts on Dick Tressell as RB coach? What in his background qualifies him?

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 1:45:10 PM)
Hi BuckeyeDave...just being a member of the Tressel family qualifies him to coach any position. Sure Dick Tressel is not a real popular choice to be the running backs coach but JT himself wasn't the most popular choice to be the head coach either. I'm sure he'll work well with his brother and Joe Daniels and Jim Bollman and that's more than half the war. Sure I was hoping maybe a former Buckeye with NFL experience for instance might have won the job but Dick Tressel is a Tressel and I think that will be good enough whether the fans like it or not.

russiabuck (Mar 25, 2004 1:45:32 PM)
Is the Wells kid out of Florida still a strong possibility, I've been reading that he's an FSU lean??

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 1:51:30 PM)
Well no doubt Wells is a good one from all the accounts that I've heard of and read about. I certainly believe we still have a decent shot at attracting his services unless something has happened recently that I'm not aware of. Most people seem to think that Wells and Ringer are at the top of the OSU wish list and that's great but please don't count out Tyrell Sutton. This kid is really a good one and he has a lot of heart and desire and he's a tough kid. He deserves to be mention right at the top of the list in Ohio. Sure Tolbert and even Keys are also quality prospects but Sutton deserves to be mentioned as at least an equal to Ringer in Ohio at this point. Back to Wells, he does have some Ohio ties so maybe that will bode well when it comes time for him to make his final decision.

redondo (Mar 25, 2004 1:51:39 PM)
Hi Gary - Lots of moving pieces with starters departing and coaching changes. will the offense both improve and change (as in open up and become more imaginative), or should I continue to make sure my defibralator is fully charged by kick-off each Saturday? Thank you.

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 1:56:28 PM)
After many years of watching different personal come and go at YSU, the only constant during the championship years there was that if JT can hammer the football, control the clock and field position, have a great defense and more than solid special teams...then he has a great shot at winning football games. If you want to see fireworks on offense, that means that JT doesn't have the kind of personnel he needs to win football games the way he knows how to win football games. I don't think his winning formula will ever change, it's not sexy in any way but it wins championships. So charge up that defibralator and get ready for another winning season in the fall.

tsteele316 (Mar 25, 2004 1:56:33 PM)
any idea of what out of state kids will be at the nike camp?

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 2:01:08 PM)
hetsteele316 and thanks for chatting today...you know I'm sorry I can't really say at this point about any oos kids coming to the camp. I
don't think Cushing the LB out of NJ will be here for one. I would think that Stull might be here but I'm not certain. I would hope that King and Hartung would come in from Pa. as well but I don't about either of them as well. So in short, no I don't know of many kids in or out of state at this point that will be coming to the camp. We will attempt to find out names over the next couple of weeks though.

redondo (Mar 25, 2004 2:01:15 PM)
Any recruits you can think of that the staff should be paying more attention to? Who and why? Thank you.

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 2:05:58 PM)
I really think the staff is going to be really selective this year and the number of commitments might come at a much slower pace this year. It's a great start with O'Neal and Boone so that's great. I'm sure there are a lot more out of state guys that OSU has an eye on and we might see a few of those kinds of guys at the Nike camp in April so we should have a better idea of some of the players that they're interested in. Many of the top names in Ohio we are all aware of at this point so we will just wait and see exactly who is and isn't at OSU's Nike camp next month. Sorry for such a vague answer to your question but we will know more a month from now I'm sure.

Susan (Mar 25, 2004 2:06:10 PM)
Gary, do you know much about Bellevue's Greg Keys? I read two different recruiting services who have him ranked fairly high as a running back. I recall one ranking was 5th and one was 11th.

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 2:08:56 PM)
I like what I'm learning about Greg Keys and I'm looking forward to getting to know more about him. I really like his combination of size and speed and I hope to see him run track this spring and get a really good glimpse of him in action there first. Seems like a guy that OSU should keep their eye on and I think they are at this point. That's about all I know about Greg Keys right now.

slimkid (Mar 25, 2004 2:09:06 PM)
What do you make of this JD Bergman guy? I think it made news only because he's a wrestler; there's no chance this guy will make the team, considering that Tressel would have to give him a scholarship if he lets the guy suit up.

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 2:12:33 PM)
I think this is great exposure for the wrestling program and it's well deserved. I'm a big time Tommy Rowlands fan after watching him with the national championship on TV and I'm not even a wrestling fan period. I think it's great and I hope Bergman has success on the gridiron but I think his championships are still waiting to be won on the wrestling mat. But I for one, love wrestlers that play football in general.

anonymousbuck (Mar 25, 2004 2:13:19 PM)
Gary, it seems that every year someone steals top talent from Ohio, last year it was fred davis for USC, the year before it was Crable and Burgess for scUM and Brady Quinn for the domers. This year its Mario Manningham for scUM, just how good is he? And who are the other players that may go out of state (hopefully not to our rivals!)?

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 2:20:13 PM)
HI anonymousbuck...I think mario manningham is absolutely tremendous as a wide receiver from the standpoint that if he can secure the football in any space at all then he's gone. He's really a natural instinctively. I don't know if he's even close to being the fastest receiver and he's certainly not the biggest or tallest but he can play the game on another level with the football in his hands. And after watching his body control on the hardwood it's easy to see that he's just a tremendously gifted athlete. He might be the most talented high school receiver that I've ever seen in person with my two eyes and he still has another year. That really hurts to lose those kind of talented players and the ones you mentioned because they represent high school football in Ohio and I want Ohio State to be a reflection of the talent in the state.

GaryHousteau (Mar 25, 2004 2:22:26 PM)
I want to thank everyone for participating in the chat today and for taking the time to read it afterwards. I look forward to the next couple of weeks with spring football just around the corner and for watching how the recruiting situation unfolds after the Nike camp. Hope to see you here next week. Thanks to Kirk for helping to make this chat possible. Go Bucks!